Whiskey, Kobe beef and suckling pig: inside the ‘Fat Leonard’ navy bribery scandal – By Edward Helmore (The Guardian) / Sept 11, 2022
Leonard Francis, who pleaded guilty to fraud, is on the run, leaving questions about the role of military contractors in his wake
Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard”, skipped house arrest on Monday and has, in all probability, crossed the US-Mexico border and is trying to make his way to Asia.
Francis, who was due to be sentenced after pleading guilty to a decades-long military contractor fraud scheme, has left behind a headache for the US navy, and for the military broadly, in mounting foreign operations.
At 350 pounds, Francis merited the name “Fat Leonard”. But he was also known in navy circles as “Leonard the Legend”, and as the man who seduced the 7th Fleet by systematically greasing the wheels with corrupt bonhomie.
The tools of his trade included whiskey, Cuban cigars, Spanish suckling pigs, Kobe beef and what prosecutors described as a “rotating carousel of prostitutes”, designer handbags, Lady Gaga tickets, Gucci fashion shows and cash – all to win ship resupply or husbanding contracts across south-east Asia.
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